The NES Works series wasn't supposed to return until next year, but, well... here it is.

Can you blame me for jumping the gun, though? 1987 is an amazing year for NES. Western developers had barely entered the scene, so for this one year all the NES was getting were the best games by more experienced Japanese studios, filtered through Nintendo of America's quality-control process. Sure, not everything in ’87 was a gem, but the hit-to-miss ratio on this series is going to be higher than on any other chronological venture I've produced or will produce. And to prove it, here's the game that kicks the whole thing off: Capcom's Trojan.

I feel like this is a fairly misunderstood game, these days. Yeah, it's unfair and a little primitive, but you have to view it in the context of the era. Compared to pretty much everything that's come before (save Super Mario Bros.), no other game has crammed this much detail, such solid play mechanics, and so many interesting secrets into a single cartridge. This is quite good stuff, and 1987's only going to get better from here.

Also in this episode, a bit of a change for how I handle these chronological video series from here on out. All for the better, don't you worry.